


behind the eight ball

by summerwoodsmoke



Category: Ars Paradoxica (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crack, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Trapped In A Closet, not that they're really enemies or lovers but y'know. it's high school, this was EXTREMELY fun to write folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 05:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10404819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerwoodsmoke/pseuds/summerwoodsmoke
Summary: high school senior sally grissom's known june barlowe since they were in the ninth grade. june's hated sally for at least that long.their friends are sick of it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> leslie: do you think anyone ships june/sally  
> me: LOL NO  
> me, not long after: ok so im writing a high school au for them  
> leslie: i have brought about the future by predicting it
> 
> behind the eight ball: in an unfavourable or uncomfortable position

Sally was pretty sure the high school gods had it out for her.

 

She’d had at least one class with June Barlowe per semester, every semester since freshman year, and June Barlowe _hated_ her. To be fair, she wasn’t that fond of the girl either, but could she really be blamed? June was so hostile and Sally was good at reacting in kind. So sue her.

 

And now this?

 

Well, okay, this was less the high school gods’ fault and more her evil, soon-to-be-ex-friends’ faults.

 

“I’m going to kill Anthony and Helen,” June said, matter-of-fact.

 

Sally stared at the floor and pretended not to be scared. “Look, I’m not happy with them either, but murder is taking it a little far.”

 

Sally listened to June shift in the dark. “Do I sound like I care? They’re dead once we get out of here.”

 

Sally sighed. “I can’t believe you found the one way to make me _want_ to stay in a closet with you,” she muttered under her breath.

 

“Are you serious?” June sounded indignant. Sally tucked her chin against her chest and grimaced. “Can you really name anywhere you would rather be less right now?”

 

Sally considered. She considered some more. “World War II?”

 

June scoffed. “I beat out Nazis, amazing.”

 

Sally threw her hands up. There was no such thing as a win with this girl. “What do you want me to say? Y’know, June, I don’t _actually_ hate you. If you hate me, sure, whatever, but like...it’s not really mutual. I mean, I thought we worked really well together when we did that project in English last year.”

 

“That’s because you’re a hopeless science robot and desperately needed my help to analyze _Huckleberry Finn_ ,” June grumbled. Sally couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like June was sitting the same way she was: chin on chest, legs folded up close, and arms crossed like a cantankerous toddler. Seconds passed, then June sighed. “I _did_ hate you, but it’s been so long, I stopped being mad ages ago. It’s just been...habit. For awhile now.”

 

Sally’s brow furrowed. “Mad about what? What happened?”

 

“You don’t remember?” June sounded indignant, again.

 

“June! Of course I don’t! I would’ve tried to fix it years ago if I knew there was a rational reason for you hating me!”

 

“It was in freshman year, at the science fair! Does that spark anything?”

 

“Wait, you were there?”

 

“Not with a project, no, but I was there with Ben.” June stopped then, obviously waiting for Sally to react.

 

“Okay…” Sally said slowly.

 

June groaned. “You really don’t remember. You are _such_ a disaster, Sally Grissom.”  


  
“What happened?”

 

“You ‘tripped’,” June said, and there was no way Sally could miss the intended air quotes. Also, she was starting to remember now. Her eyes widened as June went on. “You knocked into Ben’s table, which had this brilliant project about wind power, way too technical for me to understand, but very fragile, and you knocked it off the table, and I’m getting mad again just talking about it, _UGH_.”

 

Something nudged against Sally’s ankle just then and she jumped. It was June’s legs, stretched out in front of her. Sally exhaled slowly. “I...remember that now. Yeah. It was an accident, I swear it was.” They sat in silence for a minute as Sally scrambled for something to say that wouldn’t make June madder. “Wait, does Ben hate me too?”

 

“He _did_ ,” June replied, with the ensuing, _You idiot_ , unspoken. “But I’m terrific at holding grudges, and he has an old soul.”

 

“Hence why he talks to me on a fairly regular basis without yelling,” Sally concluded.

 

Sally could practically hear June roll her eyes. “Yes,” she said simply.

 

“Okay, but you realize if we had gotten along, we _totally_ could’ve beaten Chet and Esther in debate last month?”

 

“Sally, I swear—”

 

“Not to mention all the _detention_ we wouldn’t have gotten, June, holy crap—”

 

“Sally!”

 

“We wouldn’t have been forced to work on posters for the dance, we wouldn’t—”

 

“Would you just—”

 

“—have run out of paint, _we wouldn’t have been locked in the supply closet by my stupid friends!_ ”

 

“I REALIZE THAT!” June yelled, and it felt louder than it really was in their tiny space. For a minute, their breath was the only sound that filled the air.

 

Sally sat back against her wall, unsure of when she’d leaned forward during her tirade. Since when did she care this much about her and June Barlowe’s relationship? Honestly. Well, okay, the debate thing had been _seriously_ bugging her for weeks, and her mother was never impressed when she got detention, which was because of June, like, 90% of the time, but she didn’t mope around about her and June’s relationship that was Fraught With Tension!

 

Oh.

 

No, wait.

 

Sally swore under her breath. She totally did.

 

June was sighing, all of six feet away from her, but all Sally could think of was Anthony’s face during lunch period today, when she’d been babbling on about detention with June. And Esther and Helen’s faces during fifth period (her only period without June this semester, thanks high school gods) when she was complaining about her, a self-proclaimed physicist, having to do artwork with a self-proclaimed—well. Sally had then called June something not that nice, and Esther had groaned and Helen had rolled her eyes.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Sally jumped a bit, pulled out of her memories and back into the dark, tiny present. June’s voice had been small, and quiet. Sally didn’t have a clue how to respond. “W-what for?” she managed to ask.

 

She listened to June breathe, in, then out, before she replied. “For the grudge. The dumb feud that’s had us in detention this year alone more than I ever wanted to be in my life.”

 

Sally slumped against the wall. “Yeah...yeah. Me too. I mean, I had no idea, but it’s not like I never...I egged you on. And I’m...sorry about that.”

 

June huffed a laugh. “Pulling teeth, are we, Grissom?”

 

“Hey,” Sally defended, “I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the most personable girl.”

 

“No kidding,” June disparaged.

 

“Nluh flunhuh,” Sally shot back, like a five year old. June laughed, and Sally—she’d die before she ever told Anthony, but—Sally’s heart skipped a beat.

 

“June, I—” Sally started, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. She stared blankly for a second before she realized what was happening.

 

“Let us out, you imbeciles!” June called.

 

Sally could hear Anthony clear his throat. “Yeah, uh, Sally? Are you...alive?”

 

Sally rolled her eyes. “Yes, Anthony, geez.”

 

“Right, so, your phone’s been ringing nonstop, so I answered it, and it was Chet looking for you.”

 

“Yeah, I imagine I’m late for our study session, Anthony. Did he tell you I’m gonna kill you once you let me out?”

 

A brief pause, then Anthony quietly said, “Yeah.”

 

“But you're gonna do it now, aren't you?” June asked.

 

“Yes, yes, whatever, I had a good life, yadda yadda, just let me unlock the door…” he trailed off and they listened as he fumbled with the key.

 

“Hey,” June said quietly as they moved closer together, in front of the door. Her tone was diverting, amused. “I thought you said murder was taking it a bit far?”

 

“Anything for the pursuit of science, June.”

 

June laughed, and Sally was lucky enough to be looking in her direction right as Anthony opened the door. Light spilled into the closet, and Sally winced for a second before focusing on June’s scrunched up eyes, her button nose, and her flawless red lips, open in a genuine laugh that Sally wasn't sure she'd ever heard before.

 

This was a win if there ever was one. Sally sent up a little prayer in thanks to the high school gods, and offered June a hand to help her up.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! drop me a line, fandom. have i outdone myself or is bill's wife fic still the weirdest one LOL (both kudos and comments are very, very appreciated)
> 
> come find me at twitter.com/alinastarkovas (where most of my nonsense happens) or at tanosoka.tumblr.com


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